Some people are suckers for buying kitchen gadgets, office supplies, or organizing systems.
My downfall is books.
I get book ideas from listening to National Public Radio interviews, and from CBS Sunday Morning. I devour reviews in other publications, and sometimes when my friends rave about a book, I try it, too.
There are half a dozen books waiting on my bedside table to be opened, and more on the living room coffee table. These join their friends on the “To Be Read” shelf of my office, not to mention a selection of books my husband has read that also look interesting and are lined up in our home library.
I have always enjoyed reading, but I never considered it a hobby per se. Like physical exercise, reading is simply integrated into my daily life.
When I am brushing my teeth in the morning, the first thing I do is open the blinds to check to see that my morning papers have landed in the driveway. It definitely starts the day off on the wrong foot on the rare occasion when there has been a newspaper mix-up, or worse yet, no delivery at all.
I was astonished to read on the website Book Riot that according to a 2016 Pew Research Study, 72% of Americans had read one book that year, and 28% had not read a book at all!
The median number of books read was four.
My newest way to consume more books has been with Audible audiobooks. I joined in 2020, and according to my profile, I have spent four days, 17 hours, and 44 minutes listening to books. But I can do better!
We remind our grandchildren to “eat the rainbow” to fully nourish their bodies, and reading does the same for our minds.
So if I walk by you with headphones on, it’s not that I’m not social.
I’m just taking care of my brain.
One book at a time. ©
